Supply Drop
by broomsticks1
Summary: Collin James is on his was to retrieve supplies from a supply drop in Arkham City, when he hears a young woman sobbing from a garbage bin in an alley. He takes her in to find out that she is the infamous Harley Quinn, Joker's punching bag. How bad can it be? She'll be out of his hair in no time and then he can return to his life of solitude. Chapter 7 is up after a LONG break!
1. Chapter 1

Collin James had always been a strange man, but if you spend your life trying to please everybody you'll waste away having squandered the life you had been given, or at least that's what Collin kept telling himself.

He had once led a great life, a brilliant neurosurgeon that divided his time between Gotham General Hospital and the infamous Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Upon finding out about Hugo Strange's brutal experiments on the inmates (sometimes referred to as "patients" to make the Asylum sound slightly less harsh), the young doctor stood up to him in an attempt to put an end to these experiments. This is how he ended up in Arkham City, where enemies of Strange were taken and thrown into a brutal environment to compete with inmates and other political prisoners for survival.

Collin often compared the City to _The Lord of the Flies_ , a perfect comparison if there ever was one. After being thrown in, several inmates attempted to corner him since he was often thought of as the brain surgeon born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but they were soon proven wrong. Collin had traveled the world in his gap year between his undergraduate years and medical school learning various street fighting and mixed martial arts techniques in Central and South America as well as parts of Asia. He had accumulated the money to get through medical school with very little debt from his work as a paid assassin upon the conclusion of his extensive training.

Naturally, the inmates were either killed or doomed to urinate sitting down for the rest of their lives, assuming they could even walk. Nobody had dared to bother the young surgeon since that fateful moment.

Collin had taken up residence with the Riddler upon his incarceration, having bonded with the master of riddles over their mutual love for knowledge and their never ending desire to learn. Of course, Collin had been the humble one of the pair, Nygma never missing a chance to flaunt his knowledge and intellectual superiority. After a few weeks, there was a mutual agreement that the pair go their separate ways, so the young doctor quickly made his home in a small abandoned apartment. It certainly wasn't fancy, but it suited his basic needs, which was more than one could ask for in Arkham city.

Collin slowly walked through the streets of the City, ever wary of his surroundings. The supply drop was due any minute now, and he was beginning to run low on water. His grip tightened on his crowbar. He had looted supply drops countless times, but today was different. Something didn't feel right.

He heard a sobbing sound coming from a nearby alley, which was nothing out of the ordinary in the City. Political prisoners who were unaccustomed to the harsh environment into which they were unexpectedly plunged could often be heard cowering in alleys and in trash cans, doing anything to survive for just one more night. He continued on his journey as usual, until he heard a gruff voice come from the alley.

"Check out the rack on her."

"Oh, yeah. She'll do, eh?" another voice replied.

Collin made a detour down the alley immediately, never turning down a chance to crack a few skulls, especially when an innocent life was in danger.

"Problem, fellas?" he called, making the two men in the alley jump out of their skin.

"Piss off!" one of the men called. "None of your business, pretty boy!"

When it became clear that Collin would not "piss off," one of the men made the mistake of attacking. Without slowing his pace, Collin gave the man a solid hit on the head with the crowbar, sending him to the ground with a hard and painful _thump_. Collin smiled as he watched the other man run away down the alley. _Never gets old_.

He walked over to a nearby garbage bin, following the sound of the sobs. Upon arrival he looked inside and was met with a very strange sight. He saw a young woman with blonde pigtails colored red and black on each end, a face covered with makeup, wearing a red and black corset and leggings, all topped off with absurdly high high-heeled boots.

He leaned on the side of the bin and smiled. "What're you doing here, beautiful?" He placed a hand on her head. _Temperature's fine, I need to get her out of here before an infection sets in_.

"Didn't get the joke," she panted, before losing consciousness completely.

Collin ran a hand over her neck. _Pulse is passable. I should get her out of here._

 _But should you?_ He heard the voice of his former guru in his head. _Another mouth to feed and another life to watch out for, sure you can handle that?_

 _Of course I can. I can't just leave her here._

 _Anyone else would. Humans have the instinct to satisfy their own needs before worrying about others. Some call it selfishness, but it's completely logical._

 _Hardly. I'll take her and deal with the repercussions later._

 _Whatever you say, Collin. Just remember, you've been wrong before._


	2. Chapter 2

Collin gently set the woman down on his bed, being careful of her various bruises and cuts that would no doubt need stitches.

"So you just needed me to hold the door for you?" the young man who had followed Collin home asked from the doorway.

Collin shook his head and grabbed a handgun from his nightstand. "I need you to go to that supply drop and bring me back two cases of water. Take any and you're dead, run away and you're dead."

The man glanced at the handgun, speechless, then ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Now alone, Collin returned his attention to the young woman. He unbuttoned her corset and looked over her body. Try as he might, he couldn't resist a glance at her bra, but he respected the stranger enough to do no more. He left the room and returned with a small box. He opened it and extracted several needles, a bottle of iodine, and a pack of suture thread.

As he set to cleaning and closing the wounds, his mind began to wander. _She looks familiar. Do I know her?_

 _Hard to tell with all the whore makeup._

 _Oh, you again. Can I help you?_

 _Nope, I just like to drop in when your mind's wandering and keep you company, feeding your slow descent into loneliness and madness._

A knock at the door startled him from his thoughts. "Enter," he called.

The door opened and he heard something heavy being placed on the floor. "Your water," the young man said.

"Good," Collin nodded. "Now go away and don't let me see you again."

Without a word the man quickly obeyed, slamming the door once again.

"Why do they always slam the door?" he grumbled.

As he finished off the bandage on the woman's final cut, he sighed deeply and sat back, running his hands through his long pitch black hair. _You'd better pull through._

He rose from the seat he had taken by the bed and went into the kitchen to begin stowing the bottles of water in the modest refrigerator. She would be asleep for an indefinite amount of time, may as well do something productive in the mean time.

* * *

Several hours later, as Collin was asleep on the couch in his modest sitting room, he was awoken by a pitiful whimper from his bedroom. He rose, wiping his eyes and taming his hair, and walked down the short hallway and into the kitchen that adjoined his bedroom. He immediately noticed the young woman was standing in the doorway of the kitchen looking around with a strange look on her face, almost as if she had just arrived on a different planet.

Collin smiled, "Morning sleepyhead."

"What time is it?" she asked weakly, rubbing her eyes with her wrists, slightly reminiscent of a toddler just roused from sleep.

Collin shrugged. "Somewhere in the neighborhood of two in the morning. Time doesn't seem to exist in the City."

She continued to look around the room with an empty stare.

"Would you like something to eat?" Collin asked slowly, moving over to the pantry, keeping a careful eye on her in case she began to exhibit further signs of a stroke or a partial seizure.

She jumped violently, as if she hadn't even known he was there. She then nodded weakly and moved to sit at the table.

As Collin moved about the room preparing a plate for the woman, he noticed that she wasn't wearing a shirt, just a bra. He bit his tongue hard to keep himself from looking, now was definitely not the time for that.

He set a full plate down in front of her and sat himself on the opposite side of the table, opening a water bottle as he leaned back in the chair and examined her more closely. The first thing he noticed was that she certainly wasn't picky, the poor girl ate like she hadn't eaten in days, and for all Collin knew, she hadn't.

Between mouthfuls, she looked up at him with innocent and tired eyes. "Who are you?" she asked, significantly stronger with food in her stomach.

He smiled. "Dr. Collin James, I was a neurosurgeon at Gotham General and Arkham."

She swallowed quickly and leaned forward. " _That's_ where I know you from!"

He raised an eyebrow slowly. "Who are _you_?"

"Dr. Harleen Quinzel, I go by Harley now that I've been liberated."

"So you're the psychiatrist who went crazy for Joker. I thought I knew you from somewhere."

"Went crazy?" she asked incredulously. "He liberated me! We're in love!"

"Fine, fine. You're in love. We'll come back to that another time. Anyways," Collin quickly changed the subject, not wanting Harley to get violent and make him regret saving her, "how'd you end up in that dumpster?"

She shrugged. "Mr. J hasn't been himself lately since that situation at Arkham with the Bat. I didn't get one of his jokes, and I think he threw me out of a window. All I remember is pain, falling for a while, more pain, voices, and being picked up outta the trash bin."

He nodded. "That was me. Lucky I got to you first."

"So why _did_ you come for me?" she asked slowly before inhaling another mouthful of food.

Collin shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, some of Two Face's guys were about to get their hands on you, and you wouldn't have liked that."

"How'd you know they were his men? Mr. J could've sent them to save me!"

Collin shook his head. "I spent some time in Harv's courtroom, saw them there. That maniac would've killed me, that godforsaken coin. Lucky his gun jammed or you'd be in a very different situation right now."

"Well… Thank you," Harley quickly turned her attention back to her food.

"What is it, Harley?" Collin asked slowly. He almost didn't want to ask her, but to analyze her and try to deduce the problem himself. It was a cruel exercise, he had spent far too much time with the Riddler.

"Well, it's just that…" she chewed her food slowly to give herself time to think. "What do I owe you?" she asked him at last.

Collin raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?

"Well," Harley shifted uncomfortably and took a sip from her own water bottle. "Everyone's out for themselves here, nobody ever does a selfless deed. Everyone always expects something in return."

"I'm not everybody, Harley," Collin leaned forward. "You don't owe me a thing."

"Well, that's very nice of you, Dr. James," Harley pushed her plate away, leaned back in her chair, and rubbed her stomach, still skeptical of the neurosurgeon's motives. "I promise I won't be in your hair too long."

Collin smiled. "You're my prisoner until you're better. You've been in a dumpster for several hours and asleep for several more, I'm sure you want a shower?"

She nodded, leaned forward in her chair, and stretched, wincing as her stitches pulled. "That sounds amazing."

Collin gestured to his room. "There're some clothes in there for you that I scraped together from some nearby apartments. The bathroom adjoins the room. Mind your stitches and call if you need anything. I've put too much work into you to let you get hurt," he grinned.

"Don't worry, I'm a big girl," she laughed as she slowly rose from her chair, wincing, and carried her plate to the sink. On her way to the room, she stopped by Collin and leaned down to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Dr. James," she whispered before continuing to Collin's room and a much needed warm shower.

"Harley," Collin spoke up, blushing slightly.

She stopped in the doorway and turned around.

"Call me Collin," Collin smiled kindly.

Harley smiled and walked into the room, leaving Collin alone at the kitchen table.

Collin leaned back in his chair and dragged his hands down his face. Collin had grown used to his life of solitude in Arkham City, and he even enjoyed it some days. Of course, there were days where he felt the loneliness, and it definitely took its toll after a while. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have some company, even if for a short time.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this one! I got a pretty good response on my first chapter so I'm planning to follow through with the rest of the story. If you have any ideas about the future of the story feel free to put them in the reviews section or inbox me directly, I'm always open to hearing suggestions!**


	3. Chapter 3

Collin stood at his cluttered workbench, listening to the shower run as it had for almost half an hour.

 _Should I check on her? Would it be rude to just barge in? She could be unconscious and bleeding out, or seizing. She could be in danger._

 _You always had a natural talent for justifying your actions, Collin._

The shower suddenly shut off just as Collin was about to go check on his guest, provoking a huge sigh of relief from him. If he had walked in on a nalive and very naked Harley in the shower, it may have driven him crazy.

After several minutes, Harley emerged from the bedroom in a t shirt and a pair of pajama pants, drying her long blonde hair, the ends still tinged with red and black. She looked much better after her shower, and the lack of makeup was a significant improvement on her appearance.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked sweetly, clearly feeling better.

"Model airplanes," Collin gestured to the various pieces scattered about on his workbench. "I used to love them when I was a kid, so I broke into a toy store and picked some up to keep me occupied."

"Neat." She threw her towel onto the table and bounded over to the workbench and rested her elbow on the table and her chin in the palms of her hands. "Can I help?" she asked hopefully, as a young boy would ask to help his father in his workshop.

"Sure," Collin pushed a pile of pieces towards her and passed her a small bottle. "Glue these wings together."

"Okay!" she said excitedly and pulled up a chair and began to work.

After several minutes of silence, Harley spoke up, "So how'd you end up here?"

"I opposed Strange's research and tried to bring it to light, and he didn't like that. As soon as the City was announced, I knew I'd end up here. I could've escaped, but I thought it might be a nice change from the monotony of Gotham.

Harley raised an eyebrow. "Monotony in Gotham?"

"I'm a surgeon, and we're not exactly sought after by criminals. A few have tried to rob me, but they grew to regret it. They saw me as 'just a pretty boy neurosurgeon,' but I can hold my own flawlessly in a fight."

Harley smiled. "I never would've guessed."

"Most people don't," Collin smiled. " I was always the odd one out growing up. I didn't like 'boy things,' I loved science and math and reading. For that reason, I never really had any friends."

"I get that," Harley said. "I was just the dorky girl with the weird name. Joke's on them, huh?"

Collin smiled. "Joke's on them."

After several more minutes of silence, Harley spoke up again, not nearly as cheerfully as before, "Do you think Mr. J sent some guys to get me after you did?"

Collin shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know, Harley. The way you looked when I found you suggested that he may have been planning to retrieve a dead body, if he was planning on retrieving anything at all."

Harley looked up at him, crestfallen. "So what am I gonna do now?" she asked helplessly.

"First you're going to get better, then we'll tackle this," Collin said. "Don't worry about that now, just concentrate on getting better. He probably needs some time to cool down anyways."

"I guess you're right," Harley muttered, wiping away a tear from her eye with her wrist. "Hey, you mind if I go back to bed?" She placed her glue and plane parts back on the table and rose from her chair.

Collin shook his head. "Not at all, get your rest. Take the pills by your bed and mind your stitches. If you need anything just call, I'll be on the couch."

Harley grunted and slouched into the room. Less than a minute later Collin heard the bed creak, then silence.

 _She seems so lost._

 _Of course she is, she hasn't been physically or verbally abused in hours._

 _I knew she was crazy for him, but I had no clue it was this bad._

 _He's brainwashed her, Collin. Maybe some time away from him will do her some good._

 _Or I could just keep her here and not let her go back._

 _Of course you could, or you could just tell her you have feelings for her._

 _I don't have feelings for her! I took her in because I'm a doctor, I took an oath to help people._

He could hear his guru laughing inside of his head as he tinkered with his planes. _Like I said earlier, Collin, you've always had a special talent for justifying your actions. I can't wait to see what you do with this one._

 ** _I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As usual, rate and review, and don't hesitate to put in some ideas for the future of this story. I'm always open to hearing ideas. Happy reading!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it's been a while, school just started back and hings are pretty hectic! Plus, I wanted to take my time with this chapter so I could make sure all the breaks don't affect the flow of the chapter as a whole. Follow, favorite, and send me any suggestions you have. As usual, happy reading!**

 _Harleen Quinzel woke up lying on a hard platform in a cold and dark room. She tried to sit up, but she was tightly bound to the table, so tightly that it almost hurt to move._

" _Hello?" She called into the darkness, struggling to keep her voice from shaking._

 _Suddenly a familiar voice spoke from the darkness, causing her heart to skip a beat. "Nice of you to join us, I was starting to think you'd never come to, Dr. Quinzel. Believe it or not, I was genuinely worried!"_

" _How did you get out? What happened?" Harleen was close to giving up on trying to keep her voice level._

 _The lights suddenly came on in the room, nearly blinding her. When her eyes finally adjusted to the sudden blinding light, her heart nearly stopped. The Joker was grinning a huge and malicious grin mere inches from her face._

" _Never you mind, Dr. Quinzel," the Joker shook his head. "You're always so worried about what was instead of what is. It would do you some good to try living in the moment sometime."_

" _Why am I here? Where's everybody else?"_

" _Arkham Asylum is now under the control of the inmates. Count yourself lucky you survived, Dr. Quinzel, very few did. I chose you myself."_

" _Why?" She asked, now thoroughly scared. Whatever the Joker handpicked her for certainly couldn't be good, or painless._

" _Well, I thoroughly enjoyed our sessions together, Dr. Quinzel," the Joker moved just out of her line of vision and began to work on something just behind her. "So I thought you'd like to join me in ruling Gotham and killing the Batman!"_

" _But why me?" She asked desperately._

 _Without a word, the Joker drew out a belt and forced it into Harleen's mouth, fastening her to the table as the Arkham Asylum staff had done to so many inmates._

" _It's painfully simple, Dr. Quinzel. Our relationship clearly goes much deeper than just a doctor and her patient. It's a little too professional for my taste," the Joker gently ran a finder over Harleen's scalp, sending chills shooting up and down her body. "It's… Electric." The Joker produced to jumper cables and tapped them together, producing a torrent of sparks and a loud pop._

 _Harleen's eyes widened at the sight of the jumper cables and she began to whimper desperately, but to no avail._

" _Don't be scared, Harley," the Joker grinned widely. "I'm not gonna kill you, I'm just gonna hurt you. Really. Really. Bad."_

* * *

4 Days Ago

 _If you want something done right, I guess you just have to do it yourself_. Collin walked across a rooftop in Arkham City, the crisp air whipping his coat around his knees. He paused at the edge of the rooftop and looked down at the neighboring rooftop, occupied by a lone man cradling a rifle.

Collin jumped down onto the rooftop soundlessly, coming up behind the man. The man turned around quickly and swung his rifle frantically, but Collin caught it easily, snatched it out of his hand, and field stripped it all in one seamless motion before throwing it aside, following this with a hard punch to the man's right temple.

Collin grabbed him hard by the throat. "Tell me where I can find Jervis Tetch!" He snapped viciously.

"Screw you!" The man threw a punch, but Collin blocked it easily and replied with a hard punch to the face.

Collin dragged him across the rooftop and held him over the edge, his feet dangling helplessly over the street six stories below. "One more chance, tell me or I let go. Tell me where I can find Jervis Tetch!" He shouted.

"The maniac's holed up in the hat shop, I swear! Let me go!" He shouted, kicking his legs frantically.

Collin smiled. "Much obliged." He relinquished his grip and watched as the man fell, screaming, to the unforgiving concrete below, landing with a sickening _splat_.

"Cheers," Collin said before turning away to begin his journey to the hat shop and have a friendly chat with the Mad Hatter.

* * *

6 Hours Later

Several hours later, Collin stared across his kitchen table into the eyes of Jervis Tetch, more commonly known as the Mad Hatter.

"Thank you for joining me today, Dr. Tetch," Collin spoke across the table from his usual seat.

"It's not like you gave me much of a choice," the Hatter replied, staring back at Collin from Harley's usual chair across the table. "I would've come with you if you'd only asked nicely."

"I couldn't take that risk," Collin replied simply.

Jervis waved it away. "So what did you need so badly that you saw it fit to bring me here by force, Dr. James?"

"I'm sure you know Harley Quinn?"

A stunned expression appeared in the Hatter's face. "You mean that dreadful woman who hangs on to every word that comes out of that crazy clown's mouth? I'm familiar with her. Why?"

"She's here and hurt, I need your help treating her."

"No," Jervis shook his head quickly. "Exactly how stupid are you? Don't you know how dangerous this is?"

"He threw her out of a three story window, Jervis. I doubt he'll come looking for her after he tried to, and very nearly succeeded in, killing her."

"It's still too dangerous. Why do you need me? Why couldn't you just leave me to my own devices? No one ever bothers me, it's so nice!"

"You have some special skills that I need, Jervis."

"You're a neurosurgeon and I'm a neurologist. What do I know that you don't?"

"I don't need your skills as a neurologist, I need your skills as a master hypnotist."

"Go on," the Hatter suddenly seemed reluctantly intrigued, most likely because Collin had described him as a _master_ hypnotist.

"Joker's warped her mind into thinking she's in love with him, that's the only explanation for why she's stayed with him this long."

"The _only_ explanation?" Jervis raised an eyebrow.

Collin nodded. "She lives in her own version of what she thinks is reality, and I need you to bring her back to our reality. _The_ reality. You follow?"

Jervis nodded. "Of course. Where's Crane? I'd begrudgingly entertain some input from a maniac who specializes in psychopharmacology. He could be surprisingly invaluable. Assuming I even agree to help you, of course."

"He's on sabbatical in the sewers with Croc from what I've heard."

"Oh," Jervis paused. "What's in it for me?"

Collin smiled, "A young girl with blonde hair wearing a blue dress."

"Alice?!" the Hatter perked up excitedly.

Collin held up a hand. "Only after you've helped me, Jervis. After I have Harley you can have Alice."

The Hatter clapped his hands excitedly. "Let's get started then!"

* * *

 _Present Day_

Collin James and Jervis Tetch sat at Collin's kitchen table, papers covered in notes and sketches strewn about wildly over a small mountain of open books.

"What do you think, Jervis?" Collin asked, stretching for the first time in days.

"If we had some of Crane's toxin, we could use it to condition her to fear the Joker, making him the water to her cat. A metaphor, of course, but the concept stands."

"But we don't have any of his toxin, and I have absolutely no clue how to get my hands on some," Collin said, desperate not to lose hope.

"I realize that," Jervis leaned back in his chair. "I could use some obscure and heavy hypnosis techniques that I've developed myself, but I can't guarantee what the outcome will be. She'll either be completely cured or it'll leave her scarred beyond repair. There's _some_ middle ground, but it's hardly worth mentioning."

"Do it," Collin said immediately. "If she wakes up as her current self she'll go running back to Joker, then he'll kill her for sure."

"There's also a chance that this may not work, Collin. She could wake up in the same state of mind as before."

"Do it, Jervis. We have to try," Collin said almost pleadingly.

"Your feelings for her have blinded you. You do realize that she may come out worse than when she went in?"

Collin nodded. "I understand. Please do it, Jervis. Joker's going to _kill_ her if she goes back to him."

"Fine. I will," Jervis reluctantly complied. "I get Alice when I'm done, no matter the outcome. That's my only stipulation."

Collin nodded. "Of course. You get her as soon as she comes out of it."

Before Jervis could reply, a loud scream suddenly erupted from the bedroom. The two men ran into the room to find Harley screaming and writhing on the bed, pleading with an invisible man to stop whatever he was doing to her. Collin immediately ran over to the bed to try to restrain her, but he was met with a hard punch in the chin, sending him staggering across the room. As he steadied himself and looked up, he saw Jervis push a needle into her arm, immediately subduing her.

"Never try to subdue a person who's having a night terror. I thought you were smarter than that, Dr. James."

Collin tried to form the words to retort, but a shooting pain in his chin and jaw quickly stifled him.

"Not a lethal dose, she'll wake up in an hour or so. Hopefully we'll have more luck talking to her then."

* * *

Harley slowly opened her eyes, relieved that she was lying unrestrained on a soft bed instead of restrained on a hard table. The first thing she noticed was an IV in her arm and how difficult it was to sit up. _How long have I been out?_ When she finally gathered the strength to sit up, she looked around the room to find Collin and the Mad Hatter staring at her. collin was holding a bag of ice to his chin and the Hatter was muttering something about "Alice."

Collin was the first to speak, a grin on his face that quickly turned into a wince. "You've got quite a right hook."

"What happened?" She asked, rubbing her head.

The Hatter stood up, walked across the room, and began the process of removing the needle of the IV apparatus from her arm. "You had a night terror, you're in Dr. Collin James' apartment. Where is that apartment?"

"Arkham City," she said slowly.

"And your name?" The Hatter placed a small bandage on her arm.

"Harleen Quinzel…" She suddenly shook her head vigorously. "Harley Quinn, I'm Harley Quinn!" She frantically amended, as if she was almost as if she was trying to convince herself.

"If you say so," the Hatter replied.

"How long have I been out?" Harley asked as Jervis nearly blinded her with a flashlight.

"Six days, give or take. Putting you under and keeping you on an IV helped you heal significantly faster than if you'd been awake," Collin replied, returning the bag of ice to his face.

"How'd you knock me out?"

"Shot you with a needle. Child's play, really."

"So you knocked me out without asking or telling me?"

Collin smiled and tapped his nose with his index finger, "Spot on."

"I feel like I should be angry at you."

"You have every right to be."

"But I won't… because you saved me. Now that I'm almost all healed up I can go back to my Mr. J! I'm sure he's been so worried! How long do you think he's been looking for me?"

Ignoring her, Collin looked at the Hatter. "Do it, Jervis."

Without a word, Jervis muttered something unintelligible and snapped his fingers in front of Harley's face, causing her to slump over in the bed.

"Leave us, Dr. James. I need to concentrate," Jervis said without turning around.

"Fine, but I'll be by the door. If I hear you say anything about anything related to Lewis Carroll or any of his works, I'm putting a bullet in your head."


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's been a while, guys. I started college in August and I'm a Biochemistry major, which doesn't allow much time to do anything. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I thought about adding this to the last chapter when I was writing it, but I decided to make a new chapter to divide it up, I thought that I'd skipped around through time enough in the last chapter. I'm about to start the next chapter right now. Anyways, review if you have any suggestions or just general comments. As always, happy reading!**

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Collin continued to lean against the door as he had for what felt like days, not trusting Jervis Tetch for a single second. He knew that if the Hatter had a chance he would turn Harley into an 'Alice" and do with her what he pleased. Maniac.

He heard footsteps getting louder and he stood upright just as Jervis opened the door, looking at him with tired eyes as he twirled his hat between his fingers.

"Done," he said, clearly exhausted. "It's impossible to know at the moment what the side effects are, if there are any at all. Only time will tell."

"I really appreciate this, Jervis," I knew only you could do it."

Jervis waved the compliment away. "If Crane were here he could've done a far better job. This is the most I could do without any psychotherapeutic drugs."

"Still, I owe you one, Jervis."

Jervis smiled. "I believe you do. My payment?"

"I had some guys take her over to the hat shop when I brought you here. She's waiting for you there."

Jervis grinned widely and maniacally. "Thank you, Dr. James. Good girls are so hard to come by these days."

"Whatever you say, Jervis," Collin said as the Hatter walked over to the door.

"This is where we part ways, Dr. James. It's been a pleasure." Without waiting for a reply, Jervis swept out of the room and into the crisp night air, closing the door behind him.

After the door closed, Collin placed his gun on the table and sat down in his usual spot and dragged a hand through his hair, exhausted. He lay his head down on the table and was instantly in a deep sleep.

* * *

Collin woke up some time later to a light but deliberate tapping on his shoulder. He slowly looked up to see

Harley standing over him, hair disheveled with a blanket drawn around her.

"What's up?" Collin rubbed his eyes and flattened the hair on his head.

"What happened?" She mumbled sheepishly as she sluggishly moved to her usual seat across the table.

"You woke up pretty belligerent from a brutal night terror. You were lucid for a while, then I had Jervis put you back out."

"Why?"

Collin shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I put you out for all that time so you could heal faster, and I had Jervis put you back out to keep the process going. I'm not sure how much it sped the process up, but you definitely look better."

"I just woke up from a week long nap, Collin. I doubt I look better."

"Nonsense," Collin rose from his seat, stretched and gestured to her room. "I need to change your bandages and check your stitches. There's some blood on that blanket, you may have pulled a few in that nightmare."

"Fine," she rose and slumped into the bedroom, clearly still exhausted and aching.

He followed her into her bedroom and grabbed some tools from the metal tray near her bed. He walked over to her and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Alright, drop the blanket and lose the shirt," he held up a needle full of a local anesthetic.

She turned away from him and dropped the blanket and pulled her shirt off over her head, revealing her bare back. Collin ran his hand over the several stitched wounds in her back, also noticing how perfectly smooth her back was.

 _Stop, you idiot. Remember the job at hand. You DON'T have feelings for her._

"Your back looks fine, turn around."

When she turned around, he bit his tongue so hard that his mouth became over run by the metallic taste of blood. He gently ran his hands over the stitches on her lower abdomen, then down her legs. He desperately tried not to look at her breasts, just the sight of them may have killed him.

"Everything looks fine, no open wounds here."

"Great," Harley said, pulling her shirt back on and laying back on the bed with her blanket.

Collin slowly rose to leave, but before he could walk away, Harley grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down on the bed and continued pulling until he was laying down next to her.

"Can you stay with me for a while?" she asked sheepishly. "In case I have another nightmare?"

"Of course," Collin grinned and slipped an arm around her. "If you don't mind me asking, what was your nightmare about?"

"Something I didn't even remember until after the Hatter left. Something that will haunt me forever and remind me of every bad decision I've ever made that resulted in the brutal death of an innocent life by the maniac that I used to be in love with. I was crying when I woke up, I was so ashamed of myself."

Collin grinned and squeezed her as she snuggled herself firmly in the crook of his arm. "You were brainwashed, Harley. You don't have anything to be ashamed of now. That's what Jervis was really here for, to reverse what he'd done to you. I saw the good in you at Arkham, Harley. I never knew you, but those who did couldn't shut up about how great and awkward you were. I knew that girl was still in there, we just had to get her out."

"Normally I'd be angry that you lied to me about this and hypnotized me out of my former self without even asking me, but now that I can actually remember clearly, I know I'll never be able to repay what you've done for me."

Collin squeezed her again. "Make it up to me by remembering who you are and not going back to that life, Harley. You're better than that, and you deserve so much more than what he gave you."

After almost a full minute of silence, Harley finally spoke. "What if he finds me?" she whispered.

Collin squeezed her a third time. "Harley, as long as I'm alive he'll never touch you again."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! This is my first ever attempt at writing a romantic scene, so bear with me (rated M for this scene, of course). As usual, I'm open to criticism and suggestions. Happy reading!**

Collin lay on the bed for an amount of time that he couldn't measure, time seemed to have stopped. It felt amazing to be needed again, after the miserable failure of his marriage he had been terrified that he would die alone, but Harley was making him think otherwise. The thought of being happy again both excited and terrified him. Of course, he hadn't even made his feelings known to her. Dying alone was still on the table.

Just as he was beginning to drift off to sleep, he was roused by Harley suddenly sitting up and turning towards him.

"Hey, Collin," she whispered, as if she thought that her sudden movement wouldn't have woken him.

"Yeah?" Collin muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Have you ever been married?"

"Kind of a random question. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno," she twirled her hair between her fingers. "I guess I just thought you'd have a wife since you're such a good guy."

"I used to be married with a daughter, but that ended several years ago. We dated for a months and got married when I was in my first semester of med school, our daughter was born less than a year later. After a few years of being happy, she started to get really distant when we were together. She begrudgingly had sex with me once a week and we hardly talked. The final blow that made me see that our marriage was over was when I hugged her from behind and kissed her on the neck, but she cringed away. After that moment I sent our daughter to her friend's house and we talked all that night about our marriage. She came clean about never having broken up with her deadbeat boyfriend from before we were dating and told me that she'd been having sex with him every day while I was at work and our daughter was at school. I worked myself to death so she could stay home, and she betrayed me. It turns out, my daughter wasn't even _my_ daughter, she was _his_. I'd loved this little girl unconditionally since her birth and _she wasn't even mine_. The next day, my wife took her daughter and went to live with her boyfriend. We filed for divorce the next week, at which point I deliberately lost everything to her: house, car, anything we had bought together. I moved to Gotham and started working at Gotham General, then our house mysteriously burned to the ground after our car caught fire in the garage. Of course, I was a suspect, but I was in surgery when it happened so I got off clean. I haven't heard from her since that day, and I hope I never do again."

"Wow. I'm sorry," Harley said slowly.

Collin waved it away. "If it wasn't for that I never would have come to Gotham, and I've loved my time here. It may be riddled with crime, but it's far more interesting than Idaho."

"Plus, if that'd never happened, I may have died tonight. As selfish as it sounds, I'm kind of glad it happened."

Collin grinned. "It's selfish, but that's okay. I'm glad it happened. I'd rather find out then and move on than be in a miserable marriage with a kid that isn't mine and a wife that cheats on me every day."

Harley nodded. "I guess you're right. Have you been in love since then?"

Collin shook his head. "After that, I've been kind of scared of falling in love. Lily was the first girl I ever loved, and look what happened."

"One bad experience doesn't mean you should never love again. Everyone deserves love, Collin, you included."

Collin smiled and pulled her down to him and kissed her on the forehead. "You're a good girl, Harley."

She blushed and suddenly leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

Collin was taken aback as he looked at her. "What're you doing?" he asked slowly.

"Taking a chance," she grinned. "I think I have feelings for you, kind of like Stockholm Syndrome without being held captive, or reverse cabin fever."

Collin smiled. "I've been thinking the same thing, but I wasn't sure when the right time would come to tell you."

"I've seen how you look at me, Collin. All guys think they can hide it, but us girls can tell. Wanna touch them?" she gestured to her breasts.

Collin slowly reached out and poked her right breast, quickly drawing his finger back.

Harley laughed and kissed him again. "How long has it been since you've been with a woman, Collin?"

"Oh, a few days," he said slowly.

Harley laughed again. "So I guess I have to teach you the ropes?"

Collin shrugged his shoulders. "Trial and error works for me, makes it feel less like school and more like a clueless guy fooling around with an incredible girl."

She climbed on top of him and took off her shirt. "I'm sure it'll come back to you after a while," she grinned as she kissed him again

He ran his hands down her back and forced her underwear down her legs, which she then promptly took off and threw across the room. He then took off his shirt and struggled to kick his pants and boxers off, eventually aided by Harley.

She leaned down and kissed him again, this time grabbing both hands and pressing them firmly on her breasts.

Collin grabbed her by the shoulders and rolled over so that he was on top of her, then he kissed her hard on the lips. He then moved down to kiss her neck, then her breasts, then her stomach, then her thigh, then the inside of her thighs. Before he could move any further, Harley grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked him back up to her.

"No time, in me now," she snapped.

"Sure?" he asked slowly. "Foreplay is pretty important."

She snatched on his hair again so hard that it brought a tear to his eye. "Now!"

"You don't have to be so mean about it," he grumbled.

Growing impatient, Harley reached down, planted both hands firmly on his lower back, and pushed him inside of her hard, her hands immediately falling to the bed as she went limp, followed by Collin, who had lost all feeling in his legs.

He grinned at her response and thrusted into her once more, to be rewarded with an amazing response. He then began to thrust into her repeatedly at a steady rhythm, each time drawing out a gasp or a moan from Harley, even emitting several rather loud ones himself.

After several minutes of thrusting and kissing, Collin felt a pressure build up in his groin that he hadn't felt in a very long time. He then felt his legs begin to shake and heard a dull ringing in his ears.

"Close?" Harley gasped.

"Oh, yeah," Collin whispered.

Before he could ask if Harley was close, her body seized up and her moaning became louder, her fingernails began to cut into his lower back, and she lifted her legs to allow him to go as deep as possible.

"Harder!" she gasped.

Collin obliged and listened to the sound of her intense orgasm as she writhed under him, soon finishing himself as black spots danced in front of his eyes and his legs shook more violently than before. He collapsed on top of her, gasping heavily, desperately trying to catch his breath.

He kissed her lightly on the lips and rolled off of her. "Good?" he gasped.

"Great," she laughed and rolled over on top of him and kissed him on the lips.

"Do it again and you might kill me," he said, pushing her off of him onto the bed. "Go get a shower."

She grinned. "Only if you join me."

"Deal," Collin laughed as he jumped up and chased her into the bathroom, finally gaining the feeling back in his legs.

Collin grabbed her after she turned the water on and pushed her against the wall, kissing her hard on the lips.

As he moved down her neck, she pulled him up and looked him in the eyes. "I know this is a little early to say this, and don't freak out, but I think I love you."

Collin smiled, "It's really early, but I think I may love you too."


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this chapter isn't too long and is kind of sappy/cheesy, I've been having some writers block for a while, and I really wanted to get something posted for you guys since I've gotten some great support. I struggled a little over the past couple days to write it, but I think it's good considering I haven't written anything on it in a couple months.**

 **I've got plans to end it within the next five chapters or so, and I'm leaving it up to the fans! How do you guys want the story to end? Any plans for an epilogue? Leave a comment or send me a message with your choice. Hopefully with the next chapter I'll have a link for a poll up.**

 **As usual, I love you guys and happy reading!**

Collin awoke the next morning to find Harley's still and perfect body nestled closely against his own, her head resting on his bare chest. He had adamantly sworn off love and women a long time ago, but Harley was beginning to change him. She was a much needed breath of fresh air after an eternity of bitterness.

He had been judged and teased relentlessly as a much younger man by insecure bullies who paid dearly for their sins in adulthood, but Harley saw none of what the claimed to have seen.

 _She loves me_ , he thought, a wide grin spreading across his face. As a young man he had wondered if he would ever find the feeling that she made him feel. He believed he had for a short while, but that was a dead end in every sense of the word. He had waited a long time for her, but oh how it was worth it.

Suddenly Harley stirred and roused him out of his musings. She sat up in the bed, crossed her legs, and rubbed her eyes.

"Morning," Collin grinned at how adorable she looked.

"Morning," she grunted before falling down across his legs and beginning to pull down his boxers.

Collin reached down and stopped her. "Not right now," he said firmly, planning to make her want it so much that she would be putty in his hands later that night.

"Fine," she muttered. "So what're we gonna do today?"

"I was thinking that we could plan an escape. A sewer duct runs right underneath this house. If we could blow a hole in the floor then we could be gone before anyone came to check it out, and we'll be long gone before anyone gets past the traps I've got set."

"You've got this all planned out, don't you?" she said, clearly amused.

'I've been planning it for a while, you're just lucky I got to you in time so you could tag along."

"No kidding. But I do have one concern."

"Hit me," I smiled, confident that no holes existed in my plan.

"What about the Joker?" she asked, a combination of fear and genuine curiosity in her voice. "What if he finds me?"

"If you think _anyone_ will find us, then you clearly don't know me that well," he grinned. "Aliases and completely new identities, my dear." He sat up himself and kissed her on the lips. "He won't find us, babe. Promise."

"So when're we going?" she asked. "I'd love to get out of the City as soon as possible. This place freaks me out."

"We can leave whenever you'd like. The floor in the kitchen is directly over the sewers and it's wired to blow at the push of a button," I grinned, trying to charm her out of her nervousness.

"But—" she started.

Collin reached out and put a finger over her mouth. "Trust me," he said firmly. "Do you think I'd ever do anything to hurt you or put you in danger?"

"I guess not," she muttered. "The thing is," she leaned back on the bed. "I haven't had a real life in years, and I'd kind of like to start now. I'm just a little stir crazy sitting here with nothing to do knowing that there's a whole new life outside of these walls just waiting for me. For us."

I grinned and leaned forward, crossing my hands on her thighs and resting my chin on top of them. "Tell me what you want, and you'll have it."

She smiled fondly and ran a hand through his hair. "A house in the middle of nowhere, so we can do what we want when we want and be as loud as we want. Maybe we'll have a little boy or girl after a few years. Oh, and a dog. Basically I just want a normal life with a normal job and a normal family."

"A simple life," Collin muttered thoughtfully. "Sounds like a plan."

"How can you pull that off?" she asked.

"I know a lot of people, Harley. A lot of people who owe me a lot of favors. We'll get it done, and we'll have the life of our dreams."

She leaned up and kissed him hard on the lips and began to push him back on the bed, but Collin pushed her off once again.

"Not now, go get a shower and then maybe after breakfast," he grinned as she began to reach behind her back to unclasp her bra, as if that worked on him. It usually did. He quickly jumped out of bed and averted his eyes. "We can't always get what we want, babe. If you did, you'd never appreciate anything."

With that he left her in the room to fester in her arousal for what would hopefully be the rest of the day. When he heard the shower start, he hurried back into the room and began throwing clothes and various belongings into a duffel bag he'd found in a nearby apartment in preparation for the escape that would happen later in the night. The perfect surprise for the woman he loved.

He was abruptly roused out of his fantasies and preparations by a loud knock on the front door.


End file.
